Jatiya Party names Quader chairman, Raushon leader of opposition to end leadership row

The Jatiya Party has reached a compromise on the leadership tussle between its founder HM Ershad’s brother GM Quader and widow Raushon Ershad that threatened to split the party.

The party has agreed to hand the chairmanship to GM Quader, in keeping with the will of Ershad, while Raushon will be the leader of the opposition in parliament, Jatiya Party’s Secretary General Moshiur Rahman Ranga announced on Sunday.

The candidate for Ershad’s Rangpur-3 seat will be decided in a meeting between the party chairman and secretary general.

The consensus was reached in a meeting between the leaders of the two factions at Baridhara’s Cosmopolitan Club on Saturday.

“We first had to decide on the party’s chairmanship. There was a debate over it before resolving the issue in yesterday’s meeting,” said Ranga at a media briefing in the party’s Banani office.

“The role of chairman will be served by its incumbent GM Quader, who was also the party’s acting chairman under the instruction of HM Ershad.”

“Raushon Ershad will be the leader of the opposition in parliament.”

Ranga also addressed the issue of the party nomination for the Rangpur-3 by-polls amid talk of Saad Ershad, the eldest son of Ershad, contesting the seat on the Jatiya Party’s ticket.

“Another issue that came up was the nomination for the Rangpur by-election. A proposal was made on behalf of Saad Ershad (the eldest son of Ershad) but there was some opposition to it as well.

“The decision on the party’s nominee for the seat will be made in a meeting between the secretary general and chairman. We will meet either today or tomorrow. You will hear about it then.”